A Little Sacrifice
by Mad Mav
Summary: It was finally time. Ragged and half-mad he had dragged himself through the darkness and filth of Brennenburg for this moment. To find him. Alexander. A quick rehashing of the end of Amnesia. "You'll never reap what you return." Daniel has a more active role in his revenge on Alexander.


It was finally time. Ragged and half-mad he had dragged himself through the darkness and filth of Brennenburg for this moment. To find him. _Alexander_.

Redeem us both, Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and _**murder him**_.

The instructions – _his_instructions – which had first appalled him, burned as bright as his lantern in the oppressive gloom. What he had once referred to as murder now seemed just for all that he had suffered. And yet to call it murder… It was wrong. This was something far too intimate. The doors yielded easily – if fear had given him strength before, anger had only doubled what he felt coursing through his limbs. The Shadow roared behind him and Brennenburg shook on its corrupt foundations.

"I was wondering if you were going to show up." Alexander's voice filled the ritual chamber, rich and, to the unwary, intoxicating. It had always been that voice which ensnared him; that whisper in the dark that raised the hair on his arms and set his heart to racing. Now it only set his teeth on edge. "It saddens me to see you filled with such hate. Is vengeance really what you seek?" The baron was aglow in the darkness, his arms outstretched and his mismatched eyes bright, fanatical in the dimness of the vaulted chamber. It was the memory, not the words, which took Daniel aback. Moonlight flooded his mind's eye, the baron shrugging off his coat, the scent of roses… Papery skin under his rough hands… It left him silent, staring up at the pedestal as those velvety tones continued to assail him. Tempting him back to the corruption of painted lines and cut men.

"I hoped you of all people could appreciate the grave nature of this situation. After all, it has always been your life we were fighting for. Isn't it worth a little… sacrifice?" Alexander beckoned from the pedestal, the strange energy of the orb swirling about his body, illuminating his bare flesh. "Come, help me finish the ritual. There's still time before the shadow catches up with you."

Daniel was silent. Again, the Shadow roared in the deep and purple electricity snapped from the three pillars surrounding the altar before which the baron presided. Enormous rocks spun in the air like a swarm of massive crows, and he considered what might happen if the ritual was interrupted. Would they fall, and crush them both? The flicker of concern withered like dry leaves in a fire. The roar of the Shadow, this time, was the roar of his own fury. He summoned his strength, and strode to the first pillar. Without a second thought, he threw himself against it, knocking it out of place. It fell with a crash and a crackle of wasted power. Alexander watched, unable to move from the pedestal without further disrupting the mysterious rite.

"No, don't _do_ that," he said firmly. There was tension in the baron's lined face, now, and for the first time since they had met, Daniel caught the first glimpse of fear. How could he have been so ensnared? How had he missed how fragile, how _tired_ Alexander looked? Daniel moved briskly to the next pillar, looking up at the ball of violet light that perched atop it, and Alexander spoke again. "I realize you doubt my intentions. Why would I take such extreme measures to save your life? Maybe, I'm saving mine too." Alexander's brows knit with a softer concern, but still, he could not move from where he levitated. The Shadow bellowed again before Daniel could think to respond, drowning the baron's appeal with a voice that cast the room in crimson. Only one pillar remained. "Stop it Daniel, you are ruining it. We are so close - _I beg you_." _Beg_? The plea made Daniel's heart quicken, and he licked his lips, torn and bloody from having bitten them just to keep quiet. The blood he tasted was proof of the torments he had undergone, his time spent in wretched purgatory. 'Sacrifice,' Alexander had said. _Isn't it worth a little… sacrifice?_ Daniel looked up at the pedestal again, met the eyes of the man who had left him so tainted, and knew, but the smooth rumbling of Alexander's voice filled up the chamber again. Soft as sin. Corruption. _Temptation._

"I'm just like you, Daniel," he said. "A prisoner of circumstance. Trapped in a world I no longer recognize." Daniel felt the ache in those words and his resolve wavered like a blade in the hands of a nervous thief. His breath caught, and he grit his teeth to keep silent. Alexander continued, relentless. "As you gain your freedom, will you deny me mine? _We_ are so close now. Closer than _I've_been for centuries." But Daniel had long wearied of obedience. This demon had tempted him for the last time. No more. He pushed the final pillar, toppling it, and Alexander screamed.

"No, you fool! You killed us! You killed us both!" The Shadow was nearly upon them, now, its howls triumphant as it closed in. The orb's cleansing blue light faded from the chamber, and left the baron to tread the trembling stone in his bare feet. He leapt down from the pedestal, inarticulate with fury as he rushed towards Daniel. The lantern was in Daniel's hand before he realized, and he swung it without even a fraction of a second's thought. The blow caught Alexander in the side of the head, glass panels shattering with the force of impact, and he crumpled. The chamber was oddly silent, then, though the walls were bursting crimson. All Daniel could hear was the squeak, squeak of his broken lantern as it swung, still, on its handle. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and _**murder him**_.'Sacrifice,' Alexander had said… The word rang out in his mind, in his ears, in the ragged breathing of the man himself. The lantern dropped from Daniel's fingers and the Shadow filled the room with the sound of its triumph. Brennenburg shook, the baron trembled where he lay, and Daniel clapped his hands over his ears. But the howl persisted, until his vision was read, until his thoughts were drowned, until he screamed.

"_Enough!_" Daniel turned his face skywards and roared back at the Shadow. "_Enough!_" And the Shadow heeled at the sound of his voice. He felt the weight of the blood red membrane behind him, felt its power rush into his very breath, and the ritual chamber was silent at last. He stood victorious, the heady euphoria of what he had accomplished almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. He grinned for what felt like the first time in centuries, looking down at the broken lantern, the broken baron… And then the silence broke, too.

"… Daniel…" Alexander's hypnotic voice was barely breath, as he strove to rise. Blood streaked his face from where the lantern had struck him, every drop perfuming the air. Of course his blood, too, would smell like roses. Nothing else would do. Red petals drifted down from the sky, dancing before Daniel's eyes as the baron called again. "_…Daniel…_" Alexander reached out with a quavering hand, so pale, now, so thin… "_Why?_" Daniel clasped that hand in his own, and the words from that first letter came to him more vividly than the first time he had read them.

**His body is old and weak, and yours, young and strong. He will be no match for you.**

Daniel yanked the old baron to his feet, and without even noticing how he willed it, the fleshy tendrils of the Shadow snaked out, and wrapped themselves around Alexander. The touch alone was a flicker of agony. This, Daniel knew from… _Personal_ experience. "_Why?_" The tendrils had begun to pull, and Daniel had to wrench his hand free of Alexander's grip. It was pitifully easy. The Shadow growled as it pulled Alexander into itself, against the wall.

"My life…" Daniel murmured, "is worth more than a little sacrifice." The shard of glass was in his hand before he could think, and he approached Alexander, sagging in his bonds. "I'll give you to them, you _awful _man…" He breathed, pressing the tip of the glass shard against the hollow of Alexander's throat. "The vitae… The torture… All of it… I'll give you to them!" Alexander lifted his head at Daniel's feverish declaration, horror furrowing his brows as he peered at him through the blood and the long threads of his hair.

"No. Daniel, _please_… You mustn't." But Daniel hardly heard him. Damascus rose oil… He'd need it. Rose petals fell all around them. Red rain… Red Shadow… Red roses. The rose oil… He smiled, humming. Paint the man, cut the lines, paint the man, cut the lines! It seemed to come right out of the darkness. The ewer of that sinister drink.

"I'll give you to them," Daniel breathed, "and I can live! I can live! I can leave this place, and my all sins behind me! Don't you see, Alexander? Isn't it beautiful?" He stroked the baron's cheek, and the Shadow tightened its grip, crushing the air out of him.

"Oh," Alexander's voice was softer than Daniel had ever heard it, strangled as he struggled for breath, "my love…" And those eyes, once so merciless, were bright with blood and with weeping, and Daniel knew the words were not for him. Had never been for him.

"You see, now, don't you? Your wickedness has saved me. You were right… You are going to protect me."

The baron let out another doleful moan, and Daniel took it for consent.

"Thank you, my friend. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten."


End file.
